Those German pairs ... such innovators! That's a very dynamic and powerful program skated with verve, emotion and tension, but the theme is difficult to portray effectively throughout a competitive program. The mood was well-depicted in the opening and they remained in character throughout, but the actual concept did not get that well incorporated into the choreography except for the opening and closing bits of sturm und drang.

Those German pairs ... such innovators! That's a very dynamic and powerful program skated with verve, emotion and tension, but the theme is difficult to portray effectively throughout a competitive program. The mood was well-depicted in the opening and they remained in character throughout, but the actual concept did not get that well incorporated into the choreography except for the opening and closing bits of sturm und drang.

Maybe it might have worked more effectively for an ice dance couple?

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I agree.

It was a brave choice, and I like it when skaters try to push the artistic boundaries, even if it delves into difficult subject matter.

However, I'm not sure a pairs routine or at least this pairs routine was really that successful. There were too many "ta da" pairs moves in-between the opening and ending of the choreography that detracted from the theme.

One thing that always gets me about these videos is how the commentators never refer to the theme of Hubert's program. Were they completely oblivious to it, or were they under instructions to ignore it?

One thing that always gets me about these videos is how the commentators never refer to the theme of Hubert's program. Were they completely oblivious to it, or were they under instructions to ignore it?

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In a similar vein, how did she list it on her ISU bio? Did she give any interviews explaining what the program's theme was?

In a similar vein, how did she list it on her ISU bio? Did she give any interviews explaining what the program's theme was?

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I've never officially heard of the theme of this program from the Hubert camp. Just that the French Fed didn't care for the program. She returned to the "Dead can Dance" program at French Nationals. She had a new program (Indochine) for Worlds, but withdrew.

So...it seems no one knows the music unless they had a Media BIO sheet from Skate Canada 1998. That would be the one thing I would ask about, but I guess no one asked since she never medaled that fall. On the other hand, maybe that's part of the mystery of this legendary program.

Watching all three versions at once is like watching a Groundhog Day. Her efforts were similar in each outing and the commentators had the same depressing tone each time.

After a little research, I strongly suspect that the "M. Bretomeu" in question is Thierry Bertomeu (note the different spelling), a musician, composer, and sound engineer who has worked in such modes as New Wave and hip hop and who has worked with Brian Eno, Cesario Evora, and Serge Gainsbourg, among others. Some of the pieces on his myspace page sound like the music in Hubert's program.

I assume that Hubert worked with her coach and choreographer to develop the concept and that it wasn't explicitly the subject of Bertomeu's music, but maybe it was. Or maybe "M. Bretomeu" wrote it expressly for the program. I would love it if someone (*cough* manleywoman or cholla *cough*) interviewed her about this program.

Didn't Hubert explain that on her way to train at her rink everyday, she would see women living on the streets as prostitutes, and she wanted to use the program to draw attention to that issue? Or am I just making that up?

Another bizarre performance was turned in by Laetitia Hubert. She managed only two triples and managed to skate into the wall on her opening footwork. Her expression, however, perfectly matched her music. It was ugly music skated with ugly choreography with ugly hair and ugly makeup in an ugly costume. Her routine is about a drug addicted prostitute who dies.

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Besides the obvious fact that person who wrote that clearly had no taste, it shows that the concept was known at the time the program debuted at Skate Canada. I could swear I remember hearing that she released a statement/explanation about the program there to the media at the time too, but it was so long ago.

The French skaters have sometimes portrayed characters without having enough concrete feeling for the role. The movements of Laetitia as prostitute are all abstract. Comedy and camp can result from this sort of theatricality.

I don't know if there was supposed to be an overarching theme to that free dance or what it was supposed to be.

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It looks like a love story gone bad being skated to the blues. Usova and Zhulin were so great together on the ice, and it's too bad that they came to prominence at the same time as Klimova and Ponomarenko. The linked clip is from 1993, when it's also likely that cracks were increasingly developing in U/Z's off-ice marriage.

I remember when the black and white Lalique video of this performance surfaced, probably around 2001. It was the first time most non-Canadian fans had ever seen the program, and it was making big waves even back then. I did a lot of searching for the music on every single Amazon short-clip I could find pertaining to the suggestions I had gotten (I remember someone had thought it was on a 'La Femme Nikita' soundtrack), but it's always resorted back to Maxim Rodriguez, even though I do remember the Thierry Berthomeu mentioning and even an article which said he composed the music.

The captions are even more hi-larious than Laetitia's effort to bring this concept/ slice of life (cut of cocaine addicted irreality) to the ice. Looking back at this, ITA with Louis' apt description (bull in a china shop). Laetitia was kind of slow and slippery over the ice, much as a bull might be too. But, with such unique creativity, chutzpah, and outside the box thinking, it's a shame that Laetitia's technical skills were not as 'out of the ballpark' as the effin' wonderful way her mind seemed to work.

After looking at the recent video interview, ITA that Laetitia has simply not aged at all (not unlike many French women). In fact, Laetitia seems to have grown into her looks.

samples from the caption transcript:

[plop]

[the music gets louder and weirder]

[&#9834; saw blade violin sounds &#9834;]

[&#9834; more kooky percussion beats &#9834;]

[police sirens (really)]

[&#9834; bizzare trip hop beat &#9834;]

[another weird moan]

[shows crotch to tv cameras] Without the caption I might not have noticed.

^^ Great captioning, but I guess they got distracted and forgot to mention the rather insistent and stabbing drumbeat toward the end before Laetitia goes into her ending spin, penultimate to her writhing dramatically backward to the ground with rhythmic withdrawal symptoms.

That closing spin was quite good with very creative positions.

I shudder myself just thinking of her possible base value, GOE and PCS marks under IJS, particularly for the crotch move -- which was surely unintentional, unlike how the captionist describes it.

ETA: Those naughty tv cameras!

Kinda interesting that Laetitia's skate appeared well before Johnny Weir burst upon the senior scene and annoyed and offended many with his offhand 'icicle on coke' description of his Dr. Zhivago costume. But then again, maybe outrage in some quarters was the reason why Laetitia didn't skate this program at Worlds.

The captions are even more hi-larious than Laetitia's effort to bring this concept/ slice of life (cut of cocaine addicted irreality) to the ice. Looking back at this, ITA with Louis' apt description (bull in a china shop). Laetitia was kind of slow and slippery over the ice, much as a bull might be too.

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In general, I'd say that Hubert tended to be one of the fastest skaters in the world. That was certainly the case at 1998 Worlds, which was the only time when I saw her skate live.

Probably she skated less fast when she was injured or struggling technically, which may have been the case in these fall 1998 videos.

I think the problem was not that she skated slowly, but that she skated faster than she could always control. She probably needed that speed to complete triple jumps, to get more height, since she didn't rotate especially fast. But she could cover the ice at great speed during footwork as well.

And she wasn't as graceful or agile or light on her feet as some other skaters, which could give the "bull in china shop" impression.

^^ Thanks gkelly. To my eyes, Laetitia seems incredibly slow in the SC performance, but that was likely partly due to the slow rhythm of the music and the way the program was constructed. Since you mention it, and upon more recall, I suppose she was usually more speedy. Maybe viewing her recent Caesar's Tribute skate contributed to my impression, but of course, 20 years later, it's quite normal to have lost speed and technical ability.

If in fact, Laetitia needed more speed to execute her jumps well, then the slower speed of the "Hooker on crack" performance must have been a bit problematic. Although, her early 'plop' was obviously due to touching the boards.

As far as Louis' bull in a china shop description, I'm the one who extended the analogy. I take it that Louis admirably and affectionately intends his descriptive metaphor to be a compliment, in the sense that Laetitia always took a more stubborn, out of the ordinary, creatively wacky approach to her skating rather than the traditionally expected porcelain princess, china-doll lyricism route.

If in fact, Laetitia needed more speed to execute her jumps well, then the slower speed of the "Hooker on crack" performance must have been a bit problematic.

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Except that, as the female commentator on the Skate Canada video (Sandra Bezic?) says, she was "moving with a great deal of speed" into her opening combination, which she turned into a popped solo jump.

It is very difficult to judge a skater's speed from most television videos, since you usually can't see the size of the rink or any fixed points as the skater moves across the ice.

^^ Quite right, Vagabond. That tends to happen all the time. Many fans often point out that their impression of particular skaters is so different seeing them live. (Figure skating is such an illusory illusion ... amplified by watching on tv. )

Must be something to do with the stationary positions of the tv cameras, and the editing. Too often the directors of skating broadcasts annoyingly cut to jarring and limited close-ups on the face or the feet (instead of providing split screens on such occasions). That kind of cutting detracts from a whole perspective, as well as from enjoyment of performances.

I think Skate America and maybe IN were the only performances of D/W's Giselle SD where the camera showed their entire bodies when they were doing the majorly important toe work that preceded their Yankee Polka -- such a sublime program.